Blindsided
by wikelia
Summary: Astrid sits after the doctor leaves her. Someone she's never met before offers her some advice. Oneshot.


**Don't ask me what universe this is in, cause I...honestly don't know, the idea just popped in my head.**

"I'm sorry, Ms. Hofferson. We won't be able to cure your eyesight."

Astrid let out a small cry of anguish, turning her head down with her fists clenched. Holding back tears, she nodded slightly. "Thank you, doctor."

"I am truly...sorry."

"It's not your fault," she mumbled, covering her eyes with her hand.

She didn't want to talk about it with him. The doctor must have taken the hint, because she heard the door close, leaving her alone.

All for trying to save some weapons. Living weapons, granted, but weapons still. All she had wanted was to visit her boyfriend at his job, but an attack had changed plans, and suddenly she was running for her life. Hiccup, the caring idiot that he was, realized that the genetically modified...dragons were still stuck in the building. So they went back.

It had been a small, pitiful one stuck in the rubble. As Hiccup led the rest out, she ran back without telling him, and then out of nowhere there was a bright light, and then nothing.

Hiccup said she was unconscious for hours when they found her. When she realized she couldn't see, she had immediately panicked (and hit someone in the fact by mistake as her arms flailed).

The doctors had said they could fix her. They couldn't.

She had asked Hiccup to leave and get her parents. Now more than ever she wished he was next to her.

When she heard the door open, she quickly wiped the wet tears on her cheeks, not wanting some random person to see her so vulnerable. "Doctor? Is that you?"

"No," responded a deep voice, and immediately her defense mode turned on and she stood up, fists in front of her chest.

"If you're the one who attacked -"

"I'm not," the man said, and she felt a gentle hand on her own, "I'm Haddock's superior."

Astrid paused, stilling. "You're his boss?"

"Yes. I believe I can help you."

"The doctor said…" She looked down abashedly. She had tried to _attack_ him. "He said he couldn't do it."

She heard him chuckle. "Well, I have a bit of a special weapon the doctor doesn't. But, just in case, it doesn't work…"

Two gloved hands grabbed her wrists and put them back in a fighting stance.

"What are you doing?"

"I know what you're going through."

"How could you _possibly_ -"

"I went through the same thing," he said, turning her. She felt warmth hitting her face - he had turned her towards a window and was standing behind her. "Throw a punch."

"At what?" she asked hesitantly.

"The air. Just do it."

So she did. She mustered as much force as she could and felt the rush of air on her hand.

"That's a strong right hook, Hofferson. Ever consider working for me?"

For the first time since this mess started, she cracked a smile. "Work for the man who makes my boyfriend miss his dates with me? No thanks."

He laughed, clapping his hand on her shoulder. "Well, if you ever change your mind, I'll be here. Now sit down again."

Astrid felt back until she touched the hospital bed and sat back, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. "I'm confused. What was the point of that?"

"Have you thrown a punch before?"

"Of course, I'm a woman."

He laughed again. "Did your punch seem any weaker?"

"No?"

"Then…" He sat down next to her. "Why would this condition slow you down in any other way?"

Astrid opened her mouth to respond, and then closed it again. He was...he was...right? There was sufficient technology for her to continue her day to day activities normally. Nothing had to change. It would just take a little while getting used to it.

"And your other senses will be heightened as well. It's a strength, not a weakness."

He was right. Holy hell, he was right. He really must have gone through the same thing. What were the odds that Hiccup's boss would know what it was like to lose your eyesight all of a sudden?

"Now that you've realized that…"

Before she knew what was happened, he turned her to face him, she heard a bit of a...crackle, and something bright overwhelmed her.

Astrid cried out and leaned back, flashes of red still swimming in her…

In her vision.

She gasped as everything slowly went from fuzzy to clear, and a man with black hair and a kind face appeared in front of her. She put a had on her head, shocked, even as her eyes trailed down to the red stone in his hand.

"You're welcome," he said with a smile, holding out his other hand for her to shake. "It's nice to meet you, Astrid Hofferson."

"It's nice to formally meet you as well," she responded, her eyes shining with gratitude, "thank you, Colonel Roy Mustang."


End file.
